Cops: Gold Coast shoplifters tried to run down officer

Theft leads to shooting in Gold Coast. (WGN - Chicago)

Theft leads to shooting in Gold Coast. (WGN - Chicago)

Staff report

A Chicago police officer fired on a car fleeing a Gold Coast retail store this evening, after the driver of the vehicle tried to run him down when the officer tried to stop four people with their arms full of stolen clothing, officials said.

No one is believed to have been injured, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.

The incident happened about 6:10 p.m as an officer responded to a call of a theft in progress in in the first block of East Walton Street, just east of Rush Street, Zala said.

The officer was walking north when he came around the corner at Walton and Rush, and saw four people coming out of American Apparel, 46 E. Walton, with their arms full of clothing still on hangers, said Patrick Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.

The four, possibly two men and two women, ran to a grey car, and when the officer tried to get them to stop, the driver sped the car at him, Camden said.

The driver “headed right for him,” west on Walton, and the officer fired at the car, causing it to steer away from him and leaving him unharmed, Camden said.